Lone Ranger
by Ayze
Summary: Adventuring alone can have both it's benefits and disadvantages. Although for those who are socially impaired, they don't really have much of a choice. /Undergoing mass re-write/
1. Cursed By Fate

My first Guild Wars story. Just thought I'd give a shot at writing again, so I decided to base it off of my current obsession. I simply love the Guild Wars universe, and hope that this writing doesn't kill it. This first chapter is simply an idea that came into my head suddenly, and I just wrote it down. I'm aware that it's not that great, but it'll get better, I promise.

Anyways, this will be a little project I'll do on the side of things. I'll try to be constant with the updates. This is just going to be a collection of one-shots with various characters.

-Disclaimer: I own nothing. The only items I own are the names and personalities of the characters in this story.

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Sweeping his brown hair from his eyes, he set his sights on his target. A devourer. A poisonous creature that took the life of his dear companion, Muffins. Since then, he had an intense hatred for the creatures, and so he hunted them.

Scanning the environment quickly, his dark green mask that covered the lower half of his face making his gaze more piercing, he planned out his pattern of attack. If it was just this lone devourer, then this would be easy. Although he had a very long string of bad luck when he decided it was alright to attack a lone scorpion-like creature when several other like creatures, much larger, revealed themselves from their burrowed hiding spots.

Notching his arrow, he pulled the string back, getting ready for his aim, a poisonous film covering the head of the arrow. Pulling the string as far as it would allow, Sai Xu took aim at the devourer.

But then he heard a light whine, a bark, and the next thing he knew, his wolf pet was racing towards the devourer, excitement in its leaps.

"No, Titan!" Sai yelled to his affectionately named pet. But it was too late. Titan's curiosity had gotten the best of him, and he was happily nipping at the creatures small legs. The devourer seemed to dislike that, and brought down its stinger towards the wolf's leg. Titan yelped at the movement and jumped away, but couldn't escape a wound from the angry creature.

Sighing, Sai Xu took aim and released the arrow, hitting the devourer head-on. Sai assumed the creature dead and stood up from his hiding spot, pacing towards the whimpering Titan.

"You shouldn't do that. You know that the devourers don't like their legs gnawed." He scolded the wolf as he placed a hand over the wound. Uttering a few words under his breath, a light glow emanated from his hand, and the wound was healed.

Relieved from the pain, the wolf's enthusiasm from earlier returned as he paced around his master a couple of times, panting happily, waiting for a command. Sai looked at Titan for a moment before letting out a light sigh. Looking in the distance, he saw a sturdy looking chest. Making a quick notion to it, he spoke to Titan.

"Retrieve." And he was off. Smiling lightly at the pet's energy, he leaned down to pluck his arrow from the creature. As grotesque as it was, he wanted to keep as many arrows as he could. It saved the work of making more arrows frequently. Quickly dousing it in water from his pack, he cleaned off the blood and put the arrow back into his quiver.

"The things I do for fun..." He said in slight sarcasm to his own nature. Yes, he was wanting to do something to occupy his time, but he didn't really enjoy the company of others who didn't know what they were doing. Most of the people who wanted to group up mostly consisted of new adventurers wanting to go through perilous places to maybe find a town that would sell them high-quality armor and much better weapons than what the town of Ascalon offered. He did group with them once, but was disappointed that they didn't even know how to effectively combat, and was mostly relied on. He couldn't remember what happened with them. He remembered going to Piken Square, then never saw them again.

Then there were the strictly business others. They always had one goal in mind, and kept it professional. Often, others were excluded from this. They always looked through your battle equipment and mostly discluded those that didn't have a good enough strategic 'build', as they call it.

And of course, there were henchmen. If he ever did group up, it would be with that group. When told to go to a point, they go to that point. If they were told to post in the middle of a rather large group of angry Charr, they post themselves in the middle of a large group of angry Charr. Although to him, it wasn't much better. They always demanded pay. Coming across a plate of platinum, he was immediately confronted with three hands demanding equal share.

On top of that, they weren't very smart, and sometimes greedy. Sai remembers when he had come across a rare find: a vial of black dye that fell out of the pack of a renegade necromancer when we defeated him. He had a look of amazement on his face, but was quickly changed when the burly swordsman jumped on top of it, promptly yelling 'Mine!' Sai was more than unhappy when he saw that the man had crushed the vial, its valuable liquid going to waist on the dirt ground.

He was broken from his thoughts when he heard a scraping sound near his feet. Looking up, he saw Titan, dragging the chest by it's chains, a light growl in the wolf's throat, seeming as if he was trying to intimidate the chest into moving faster. Sai smiled and couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Good wolf." He said to Titan, lightly scratching the pet's ears. Titan let out a gleeful bark. Reaching back into one of his belt pouches, Sai pulled out a key with a similar design to the lock on the chest. He pushed the key in and turned it. He winced at the sound of the key breaking within the lock. 'There goes another key.' He thought. Lifting its lid, Sai looked over the contents, and his face fell.

Inside the chest lied a piece of parchment. Given, it was quite a lucky find. Although Sai could pretty much see the decline of value, looking over the crude and rather explicit drawing on it. In black ink.

Sai sighed at his luck again, and simply closed the chest, wrapping the chains around it for the next unfortunate individual who got excited for an unguarded chest.

"Let's go, Titan." Sai said to said wolf. Understanding, the wolf began to trot towards a strangely shaped rock.

"Skraa!" Sai immediately turned to the not-so-dead devourer, which was currently clutching itself to his leg, ready to bring it's stinger down on him. Quickly thinking, Sai notched the same arrow and released it into the creature's skull. It became motionless after a few twitches, and Sai was able to pull his leg free from its grip.

"Alright, I'll let you keep that one." He said, not bothering to retrieve the arrow. He sighed at the further loss.

_Sai Xu has earned the title "Cursed by Fate". The Gods have extended their blessings._

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So there you have it. I know it's not the best, but it's what I can do at the moment. Expect more from me! And remember: If you like it, then review! Reviews heighten my self-esteem in writing and may most likely cause a drastic improvement in my writings. Thank you!

-AYZE


	2. LFG Part 1

Why hello again. A failed update later, we come here with a completely different chapter than what I spent the last 5 days typing. Apparently, my creativity (or what little I have of it) likes to show up when I'm suppose to be doing important work for class. So here is my new chapter that took litterally 3 hours to write and check. I'm not sure if I got all of the gramatical errors right, but I did what I could.

Disclaimer: Guild Wars, Not mine.

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"Lions Arch?" Sai Xu inquired, tilting his head in curiosity. His self-led adventure called 'life' had ended him up in a snowy town of Yak's Bend.

"Hmm… And you're sure he will be there?" He asked. His ill-breathed friend nodded, and Sai gave him a grin. "Well, I'll be sure to find him and get this to him!" He said happily, lifting the vial he was given. "It was good talking to you, Yakar." He said to his new-made friend as he happily pet the yak named Yakar's head. The yak make a seemingly happy sounding moo, along with what sounded like a gleeful pass of gas.

Turning around, he was met with strange looks from other various adventurers, as well as the local merchant. His pet wolf companion even gave him an odd stare. Sai shrugged it off. He wasn't the only one that talked to yaks, right? Snugly equipped with his new, fur-lined vest, and other new armor, he walked up the bit of a hill to get a higher view of the area. He had a hard enough time getting here, with all the strange, different enemies. He was ambushed more than a couple times by various enemies. It was like going to the doors of heaven when he saw the outpost, signifying his arrival at Yak's Bend. He remembered happily falling on the snowy ground, thinking that if he died now, it would be worth it because he accomplished something that he thought he wouldn't. Then he discovered it was a thinly snow-covered rock ground he landed on.

A nosebleed and a tanned hide square later, he went around the town, and with all the gold he found on his trip, he was happy to be able to buy some newly-crafted, much warmer armor. After exploring around the area slightly, wondering for a brief moment whether the trees were pine or cedar, he came across the happy Yaks. He talked to one of them who wanted something done for him, and after a few misunderstood phrases, he had a quest.

A bit higher up in elevation now, Sai looked as far as he could for the next place he could find. Barely, he saw a bit of a statue-shaped item very far in the distance. He sighed as he realized this would be a long trip again. He already had enough trouble getting to Yak's Bend from Piken Square; he was not looking forward to another long trip.

He looked around, and wondered why he didn't see more food vendors. After asking around a bit, he finally found someone who sold a rather small selection of vegetables. Packing a bag with food, he looked at the town again, admiring the change of scenery. He had been stuck in Ascalon for too long. He was glad to see the greens of the tree, and the presence of life. The most life he saw in the ruins of Ascalon was a small twig of a flower, which was promptly crushed by a rather large rock.

Getting down from his viewpoint, he sighed as he would need help from those that he severely disliked: Henchmen. He walked over to the group, and approached the large one in silver armor, promptly picking at his nose.

"Ah… Excuse me, but I'll need your services." He said to the group. "Enchanter, healer, fighter, and mage." He said quickly. He blinked as he examined the lot, and seeing how they looked just like the henchmen back in Ascalon. Deciding some questions are better off unanswered, he simply led the way out of the town, the group following. He stopped for a moment to look back at the town, waving a light good-bye. He then turned and headed out.

"Alright, so it DID have one…" A fiery-haired woman with dark blue Krytan armor said to no one as she pocketed an icy-blue lodestone. "Four down, one to go." She said to herself as she looked at the contents of her bag. In it, lied four ice-blue stones that seemed to emit their own light. Closing the opening of the bag, she stood up, her deep blue eyes scanning the snowy hills, searching for something. Groaning in frustration, she sat on the cold ground, looking at the dark sky. "Why did they all run off? I only wanted a few lodestones to give to that collector…" She muttered to herself, a light pout on her face.

Earlier, she had rushed a group of ice elementals. She was getting harassed by them as she was asking for their lodestones. After getting annoyed at the pokes and shoves, she unleashed her attacks on them, her arrows igniting in flames on contact. Initially, the elementals were rather upset, but more horrified to see the girl down on the ground and shoving through their dear friend's remains, and they ran off in fear, the girl only able to shoot down three more of them, but only salvaging one lodestone from the remains. Since then, she has been hunting them down, and after a long process, she was able to obtain two more, adding a total of three to her original collection of a single icy lodestone.

She let out a sigh, getting up from her spot and continued her walk, still searching for those elementals.

Sai hid behind a rock. It was a massive rock that Sai would be very impressed with. But that wasn't what the ranger's priority of thought at the moment. The sound of clashing metal filled the air. Sai pulled out his bow, applying poison to the tip of his arrow. Notching it, he looked around the impressive rock and pulled the drawstring back. His eyes scanned the area for the best target.

The fighter was currently holding off two summits, while the healer was focused on doing what she did best, healing. Sai winced as he saw the archer fall to the ground, unconscious. His wolf companion, Titan, was wounded and had fled from the area of combat. Before he saw the mage, he saw an opening in the Summit's stance, and released an arrow towards it. He let out a light cheer within him as the arrow lodged itself into the dwarf summit's neck, directly between the small gaps of armor. He promptly fell to the ground, still struggling, but the poison took its effect as its body soon became motionless. Quickly, he notched another arrow and pulled back, releasing it towards a summit that seemed to be a healer. He was soon assisted by the mage, as he saw a rather large flame suddenly fly by his vision and engulf the summit. It let out a scream of agony, falling to the ground, flailing. Sai winced as he witnessed part of the summit's horrid death, but had to continue attacking.

He began to yell out commands as he pulled out his pack, taking out tripwire and some spikes. "Fighter! Mage! Guard the Healer, Healer, revive the archer, and then take her and yourself away from the enemy, helping from far!" He instructed. The henchmen made no signal that they understood, but apparently did, as they followed the instructions exactly as Sai finished.

Taking out a rather blunt, heavy arrow, he notched it towards the last two summits. It landed on the snow in front of them. They looked to the source and one began to run over to Sai's location, the other continuing to fight. Sai paused for a second as he was seen, then notched and released another arrow at the summit, hitting the blunt surface of armor, only making a dent. He ran further away, only making the summit run faster. A surprise to the summit, it tripped. It instinctively used it's hands to push it's body up, but the summit let out a scream as a spike pierced it's little-protected hand. He tried to pull his legs, but they were snared in a tangle of wire and rope. Sai ran up to the summit and quickly released an arrow into the summit's throat.

At that moment, Sai heard a body fall to the ground, and by the cheering, he assumed that the henchmen had won their fight against the summit. Walking around the large rock he could now focus on appreciating for a second, he looked at the henchmen, more specific, the large warrior henchmen.

"Next time I sarcastically say to go fight an army, DON'T go and find an army to fight." He told them. They all nodded, seeming to understand. Sai sighed. The fighter had run off and attacked a relatively small group of summit, but then, from the hills, the distance, and an occasional tree, a summit of the same type, ambushing them. Sai decided that from now on, he would refrain himself from making witty comments and sarcastic remarks. He found his wolf companion at his side, whining lightly. He smiled and mended his wounds. Afterwards, Sai stood up and continued his adventure, his wolf and henchmen following obediently. Off in the distance, Sai saw a speckle of red.

There it was. The only ice elemental she had seen since her last hunt, which was well over a few hours ago. She grinned, all of her searching and looking paying off. Slowly, she planned out her approach. Adrenaline in her veins, she quickly dashed closer, behind a tree now. She smiled as she was in shooting distance. She pulled out her best arrow, and wrapped a thin covering over the head of the arrow, a light smell of kerosene filling the air. Notching the arrow, she lifted her bow and pulled back the arrow with the string, taking aim. Taking the arch of her arrow's flight into measure, she aimed correctly into the air slightly, hoping to take out the elemental with a single hit. She counted down slightly, a light smirk on her face.

"Three… Two… One,"

_Ka-thunk!_

That was all the woman heard, or registered in her mind for that matter, before her world became dark. Before she slipped into unconsciousness, her eyes saw the image of the elemental running away, her eyes spying the sparkle of a lodestone within the creature before her eyes closed.

"Wait here." Sai Xu instructed. He had taken the advice of the archer, and used a rather large, blunt arrow and took aim for the creature's head. He didn't want to go through a long battle like they had to do earlier. He was hoping that whatever this creature was, the others of the same type would not attack if they had a sort of hostage. "Stay." He instructed Titan, who had begun to follow his path. The wolf let out a light whine and sat in place with the henchmen.

He started a brisk pace of a job to the creature. He tilted his head as he came closer. Then a thought crossed his mind he didn't think of at all. Then he began to panic. Then he realized his thoughts were true as he came closer, and realized he had hit a fellow ranger.

"Oh… Sh-"

"MINE!!!" A yell echoed through the area, and the sound of glass breaking filled the area. Sai just stood in silence. The henchmen abandoned their post and ran over to Sai, Titan curiously sniffing at the fiery hair of the girl.

"What happened? Oh, look! You hit a ranger!" The fighter pointed out. Sai looked over, and saw a black ink stain on the fighter's armor. He sighed in defeat as he turned to the girl again.

"So what do you guys think we- Ah, never mind." Sai said, remembering that it was their advice that got him in this mess. He sighed. He figured he would take the girl to the next outpost he came across. Luckily, the henchmen knew that it was near.

He hoped.

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So there you have it. Chapter 2 in 3 hours. Titan seems a bit tacked on because he is. I had written the entire chapter forgetting about the wolf/puppything. So yeah, there he is just sniffing around. And yes, this is going to be a two part thing for those that wondered that for a brief moment, or for those who are actually reading this story. Anyways, positive critisism is welcome, but no comments saying that this story just plain sucks. I already figured that out myself. Remember, reviews heighten self-esteem and will likely push out a chapter sooner!

-Ayze


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